Improvement in mowing-machines



3 Sheets--Sheet 3.

HLM. unnlcu.

Mowing-Machines. N0l |50822, Patented May 12,1874.

ATENT OFFCE HIRAM M. nnnniox, on ILioN, NEW Yoeri.

IMPROVEMENT IN MQWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming-part of Letters Patent No. 150,522, dated Mayl2,1,874 application filed February 15, 1873.

To all whom t may concern:

, Be it known that I, Hman M. BURDIox, of Ilion, in the county ofHerkimer and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements'inMowing-Machines, of which the following is a specification: i

My invention consists in a novel manner of hin ging and bracing the mainshoe, which carries .the cutter-bar, to the machine 5 in providing theheel of the shoe with an eccentric, vby which it may be raised andlowered in order to rock the cutter-bar edgewise and change the 'heightof cut; in jointn g the lifting-lever, so that, after being drawn backto partly raise the cutter-bar, it may be thrown forward and a new holdtaken, so as to allow the operator to exert his strength to advantage inraising the bar the remainder of the-distance; in arranging said leverso as to raise `its own fulcrum, and thus increase the speed with whichthe cutter-bar is raised, and in various other details, as hereinafterexplained.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my machine, a portion of the insidewheel being broken away to expose other parts, Fig. 2, an

inner -side elevation of the machine with the inner wheel removed; Fig.3, a front elevation of the machine with the cutter-bar turned up,

the front end of the main shoe being broken away; Figs. 4L and 5, sideviews of the liftinglever and the arm or hanger to which it is pivoted;Figs. 6 and 7, respectively, a back view and a vertical cross-section ofthe deviceV by which the -heel of the shoe is held and adjusted;Fig. 8,a vertical cross-section of the seat and tool-box; Fig. 9, a perspectiveview of the devices for holding the seat-spring 5 and Fig. l0, aperspective view, showing the manner in which the transverse brace isconnected to the frame.

My improvements are intended more especially for application to thatclass of machines having1 two wheels and a solid iron frame, but theymay, of course, as far as practicable, be applied to other classesofmachines.

In the drawing, A represents the axle; B B, the wheels; C, theV solidiron frame mounted on the axle, and Dthe tongue or draft-pole, al1 ofwhich part'sgare constructed and arranged in the same general -m anneras in the present machines.

' The iirst of my improvements is in the manner of attaching the inneror main shoe, which carries the cutter-bar, and it will be readilyunderstood upon reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The shoe E is made inthe same general form as those now in use, and is provided with twoupright studs or ears, a and I), one at the heel and the other at thetoe. These two studs are mounted or pivote'd on the front end of afrod,F, which extends backward under the frame A, and has its rear end pvotedin a depending arm, c, formed on the frame immediately below the axle,and directly behind or in rear ot1 the main shoe. The rod passingthrough the ears holds the shoe in po; sition, and forms a pivot orfulcrum for the shoe to revolve upon when the outer end ot1 thecutter-bar Gis raised, the cutter-bar being secured rigidly thereto, asusual. The rod, being pivoted to the frame, is free to rise and fall atits forward end to permit the necessary vertical movement of the shoe.The rod is prevented from springing laterally by a brace, H, whichextends across under the front of the frame, and has one end `mounted onthe rod and the other attached to the frame, as shown in Fig. l. Thebrace is attached to the frame in the manner shown in Fig. l0, its endbeing mounted loosely on a rod, d, which is supported in two lugs, c, onthe frame, one of the lugs being slotted to allow a vertical play of oneend of the rod, which is thereby allowed to accommodate itself to thetwisting movement oi' the brace. This arrangement, while it holds thebrace from moving endwise, allows it to play laterally, to turn ortwist, and to rise and fall at its lower end, so that under nocircumstances can it be crampedv or wedged-fast by the movements of theshoe. In order to limit the rotation of the shoe, and thereby thevertical play of the cutter-bar around the rod, I provide the rear lug bwith a projection, g, and the end ofthe brace H with a screw, h, and ashoulder, i, as shown in Figs. l and' 3. When the cutter-bar is down inits working position the projection g, coming against the shoulder,'prevents the outer end of the cutter-bar from descending beyond thedesired limit, and causes it to rise when the shoe is raised beyond ace1'- tain height. When the cutter-bar is turned up in a verticalposition the projection g strikes upon the screw h and checks therevolution of .to vary the height of the cutting devices. I

accomplish this by slotting the rear lug ofthe shoe, as shown at j, inorder that it may play vertically on the rod, and then mountingon therod an eccentric, K, which bears between lips on the shoe, as shown inFigs. 1, 2, 6, and 7, so that when the eccentric is turned it will raiseor lower the heel of the shoe, according to the direction in which it isturned. The eccentric lis provided with an arm, 7c, having aspring-catch, I, which engages in a notched plate or flange, fm, formedon the shoe, as shown in Figs. 1, 6, and 7, so as to lock the eccentricfast and hold the shoe in the desired position. In order to change theheight at which the machine cuts, it is only necessary to release thecatch l, and move the arm 7s to the right or left.

The next point to be noticed is the jointed lever for raising thecutter-bar. The lever, as shown at M, Fig. 1, is made in the usual Lform, and pivoted to an arm or support, N, on the frame, and its endconnected by a rod or chain to the cutter-bar. The arm or support N isalso provided, as usual, with a toothed head or plate, n, and the leverwith a pawl or dog, o, which engages in the toothed head, so as to lockthe lever and hold the cutter-bar when raised. The lever, however,instead of being made in one solid piece, as usual, is divided justabove its pivot, and the lower arm or part t provided with a socket orrecess, in which the upper arm or handle p is pivoted, as shown in Figs.4 and 5, so that it can be moved forward and back independentlyof thelower arm. A spring dog 0r catch, s, is mounted in. the socket orrecess, to lock the handle when it is thrown forward. When thecutter-bar is down and the parts in their workin g positions, the end ofthe arm or handle p bears against the side of the socket, as shown inFig. 4, so that, upon being drawn back, it operates the lower or liftingarm t and raises the cutter-bar, inthe same manner as an ordinary solidlever. When, however, the cutter-bar is to be raised so far that thelever-handle cannot be conveniently thrown hack far enough for thepurpose, the handle is thrown forward until the dog s locks it fast tothe lower arm, and then drawn back again, so as to carry the liftingarmup beyond its rst position. Thus it will be seen thatvthe first strokeof the handle raises the lifting-arm a portion ofthe required distance;and that, upon the lhandle being again thrown forward, it takes a newhold on the lifting-arm, and then on therseeond stroke it raises thearmthe remainder of the distance. By thus constructing the lever, sothat two short strokes maybe given instead of the single long strokenecessary with a solid lever, I enable the operator to exert hisstrength to a better advantage, and to raise the cutter-bar with lesseffort, than in the present machines. In lowering the cutter-bar, theoperation is the reverse of that in lifting, the arm being lowered aportion of the distance, while the handle is locked, as in Fig. 5, andthen the remainder of the distance upon a second stroke of thehandle,which is irstreleased and thrown back, as in Fig. 4. The dog or catch sis provided with a pin or stud, u, which protrudes, a-s shown in Fig. 5,so that it may be released by the foot of the operator. The pawl or dogo, which holds the lifting-arm of the lever, is provided with a rod, fw,which extends up through ears on the handle p, and has Vits upp er endshaped as in Fig. 1, so that when the operator takes hold of the handle,he can, with the same hand, operate the rod, and raise the pawl so as torelease the lever. The arm or support N, on which the lever is pivoted,is mounted at one end on the axle, and rests at its front end loosely onthe frame. The lever is provided with a projection 0r cam, a', which,when the lever is thrown back, bears upon the frame, as shown in Fig. 5,and raises the front end of the arm N, thereby elevating the fulcrum ofthe lever, and causing the cutter-bar to rise more rapidly. The effectof this arrangement is, of course, to shorten the required movement ofthe lever.

The next feature to be noticed is the arrangement of the pole anddoubletree. The pole is secured to the frame as usual, but is placednearer the outside, in order to leave more room for the inner horsebetween it and the stand ing grass. In order to avoid the side draftthat would result from attaching the doubletree tothe pole thusarranged, the pole is provided with a pivoted arm, O, which extendsinward from its side, and then the double-tree is pivoted to this armand connected by a chain with the main shoe, as shown in Figs. l, 2, and3. In this way the team is caused to draw from the same point, as usual,and side draft avoided, notwithstanding the change lin the position ofthe pole.

Next, as to the arrangement of the tool-boxL under the seat. fixen theseat is applied, a plate, b', of suitable size, having flanges turneddownward on two opposite edges, is secured to the under side of thespring, below the seat, by means of the same 'screw which holds the seatin place, as shown in Fic'. 8. The box c', which is made the propersize, and provided with iianges on its sides, is then simply slid intoplace under the seat, with its flanges in the flanges or lips of theplate b', as shown. In order to prevent the box from sliding back andfalling off, it is provided with a spring catch, which engages in theplate, as shown.

The seat-spring g is secured at its lower end tothe frame by a bolt, i',and is supported at a higher point by a bar, d', locked into lugs e onthe frame, as shown in Figs. 2 and 9.

The frame of the machine is formed, as in all this 4class of machines,with a box or shell, f', to inclose the gearing, the upper part or halt'of which is hinged, so that it may be turned up when it is desired togain access to the gearing. The upper hinged part of the shell I providewith a combined catch and handle, l', consisting of a single piece ofmetal,

having its upper end fashioned into a handle,

and its lower end into a spring-catch. This piece, while it answers boththe purposes of a catch to hold the top down and of a handle by which toraise the same, can be made for a less cost than the two devicesseparately, and attached by a single screw or rivet.

\ Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. The combinationof the rod F, the shoe E, having the slotted stud d, and the eccentricK, constructed and arranged to operate as described.

2. The eccentric K, provided with the arm 7c and catch l, in combinationwith the notched plate or liange m on the shoe, constructed and arrangedto operate vas described.

3. The projection g on the shoe E, in combination with the stops h andion the brace H, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The lifting-lever M, consisting of the two parts p and t, jointedtogether and .provided with the dog s, constructed and arranged tooperate substantially as set forth.

5. The arm or support N, in combination with the cam a', to raise theend of the arm, and thereby raise the fulcrum of the liftinglever. l

6. In combination with shoe E, brace H, and rod d, the lugs e, one ofwhich lugs having a slot to allov;r vertical motion of the rod forrocking the brace and nger-bar, substantially as described.

' HIRAM M. BURDIOK.

